New photos?

It's a relatively slow time of year for my camera. It still jumps out to play on a fairly regular basis, but fewer hours of daylight, wet, and cold all convince my camera that staying home is better...

I'm still snapping pictures, and I'm still publishing selected images in my galleries. My Kaleidoscope page highlights the most recent galleries, but it just occurred to me that it might be a good thing to point out a way to see the most recent photos. There is a feeds button at the bottom of the entry page to my galleries, and I've just added a Recent photos link to this blog - it's at the top of the list of links shown to the right of this text, and it will show you my 50 most recent photos.

For a preview, click Recent photos.

A tale of two shoes

...well really, a tale of two pairs of shoes.

This morning's sky was full of gray and white - gray clouds, white flakes, light snow. Exercise, a good day for walking... I headed out, feet clad in their normal running shoes, crunching through snow. Surprisingly enough, it really wasn't slippery. It took about a quarter of a mile for me to realize that the snow and my shoes weren't a good match. There's an indentation in the heel that was quickly filling with snow; I felt like I was walking on snow balls.

Ah, a quick reverse, home again to switch to my hiking shoes. That was a big improvement, and I happily continued my waltz through the snowflakes.

Patterns in ice

Teeny to immense...

Finally! The name of my employer is no longer a secret.

For the past 5+ years I've worked for a very small software company. Change has been in the air for the last little bit, a deep secret, something that I wasn't at liberty to discuss outside of work. It's finally public, and I can tell you that I no longer work for a teeny tiny company (one that most of you had never heard of); instead, I have become part of a rather well-known company. It's time to play (OK, to work) within a new 'space'.

Where do I work now? The news quickly spread through the business press yesterday; in case you haven't seen it yet, read this!

A robin greeting

Morning, sunshine, cold...

I was sitting with a cup of strong, hot tea, enjoying the morning. Chirp! chirp! robins calling. I looked out to see a tree full of birds, sitting, flying. On the off chance that these cheerful birds might consent to pose for me, I threw a coat over my bathrobe, a hat over my sleep-mussed hair, a long lens on my camera, and I quietly walked out of the house.

The robins stayed high in the trees, sitting for a short amount of time, chirping, then flying. What a nice way to greet the day!

Encased

Snow, then heavy rain...

Based on the amount of rain we had Thursday night into Friday, I thought the snow would be gone. It's not, and ice remains too, forming patterns colored by the shadows of fallen leaves.

Two feet walking, no sliding

Pouring rain early gave way to a dry, sunny day and what appeared to be good walking conditions. Happy...

I headed out in the early evening, and very quickly found deception. The ground that I thought was dry was sometimes covered in a skim coat of ice. The air temperature was above freezing, but the ground was apparently just on the edge. Ah, those dark patches? Ice, slippery!

When I walk after dark I wear lights to be seen, but I don't wear lights to see. Hmmm... tonight, lights to see might have been a good addition.

Once I realized that the patches of ice were just waiting for me, I paid more attention to my path along the side of the road. I managed to stay upright, no ground hugging falls today. Was that pure luck?

A canopy of white

Snow still decorates the trees. As I drove to work this morning, I passed through a canopy of trees, off-season bare branches covered in a layer of white, sparkling against a brightening blue sky.

I am always surprised when a light fluffy snow accumulates on branches and stays for a while. When the snow is wet, I expect it to stick, but dry? I suppose calm air and relatively cold temperatures preserves the snow for a while. I thought that the trees would be bare again by now.

Snow fog

Ah, morning, time to look outside to see what gifts the weather wizard has provided for the day. First look... as I glimpsed outside the sky was getting lighter as the sun crept up and over the horizon. The morning greeted me with overwhelming white. It was snow fog!

No, I didn't make up that term. I smiled when I checked the National Weather Service web site this morning. It presented the forecast (for more snow) along with the current condition: snow fog.

Word play amuses me, and somehow this combination of words brought back a memory of my bicycling trip to Ireland.

I took a train out of Londonderry, and I needed two tickets - one for me, and one for my BIKE DOG. Let's see, did I pay for that ticket for my bike, or for Rover, the little red (stuffed) dog who joins me as I travel?

And today? The fog dispersed fairly early, but the snow kept falling. From snow fog to just plain snow...

Ocean fascination

There’s snow in the forecast for tonight and tomorrow, but today was almost warm – in the high 30s – and dry. I headed to the New Hampshire coast, hoping to convince some sea gulls that they should pose for me. The tide was very high though, so the birds weren’t prancing on the beach. The ocean cooperated.

I walked along the edge of the water where there was barely enough sand for my footsteps, cutting across rocks and heading down the road when the beach disappeared.

Walking, watching the waves crashing against rocks, walking, returning to the sand...

The water approached and receded, coming close to me as I stood and watched the patterns it formed against the sand. My camera jumped to my face, and I watched the patterns through the lens, snapping photos, watching. The ocean must have decided that I was watching without moving for too long, and the next thing I knew the cold water was kissing my toes. I was happy that my wool socks did their job and kept my wet feet warm!

More photos can be found in my Ocean fascination gallery.